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| A Model of one of several possible designs for the KFX |
South Korea kicked off wind tunnel testing as it moves forward to finalize the design of its next-generation jet fuselage by mid-2018, the aircraft's local developers said Wednesday.
Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said they started the first phase of wind tunnel testing in a bid to lay out the design for the Korean Fighter Experimental (KF-X) program.
The KF-X project, which will cost 18 trillion won (US$15.3 billion) of the taxpayers money, will call for the building of some 120 twin-engine combat jets. Seoul aims to deploy the new planes starting in the mid-2020s to replace its fleet of vintage F-4s and F-5s.
A wind tunnel test assesses aerodynamic forces that an object can withstand as well as overall flight properties by letting air move past it.
Read the full story at Korea Times